Ghosts of the Past
by sourpopsicles15
Summary: About a century after Ciel Phantomhive "died" in a house fire, he and his butler find themselves in America. They happen to stumble upon Amity Park, and the small town immediately demonstrates its potential for entertainment... / "It doesn't feel like a ghost, it just feels... cold." Danny told his friends. "Whatever it is, it's not good."
1. Prologue

**I'm sorry! I'll get back to my other stories- I've just been super busy. I just watched Black Bulter on Netflix and loved it so I figured, why not write a crossover? Just so you guys know, though, This is my fourth story on here and I have school too so this will probably only get updated every like 2-3 weeks or something. I dunno. Anyways, this is set after (SPOILER ALERT) Ciel becomes a demon and after Phantom Planet (but no one knows his seret). Enjoy!**

"Repulsive…" Sebastian sneered as a wild dog passed them by, running off into the desert night. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then sped up his pace until he reached his Master. He opened his mouth to say something, but Ciel interrupted before he could speak.

"No, Sebastian. We are not getting a cat when we don't have anywhere to keep it." The not-so-young Phantomhive said. He hadn't grown much at all in the past century; though his human body was about 16 by now, he could still hardly pass for 14. Sebastian just assumed that his mortal body was the only reason that he grew at all.

"Why not settle down, then? We could relax, maybe purchase a beautiful feline, maybe find some food..?" The elder demon said the last part with a sly grin.

"If we find somewhere interesting, why not?" Ciel paused in thought, "I suppose that it would be nice, though. I wouldn't mind making a contract, it's been ages since I've had one. What would you do? The same, I assume?"

"I suppose. You wouldn't mind, young master?"

"Not at all, as long as you would still be nearby to help me if I ever needed it."

The two continued their trek in silence. They were walking along a mostly deserted highway, not really caring where it took them. It had been a little more than a century since Ciel had "died" in a house fire; and ever since he'd watched everything crumble away in his absence, he'd found it ridiculously hard to be motivated to do anything. It bothered him, and Sebastian knew it. So, Sebastian proposed a solution. He would still be around to serve when absolutely necessary, but Ciel took up more and more of his own daily chores. This was how Ciel maintained his work ethic throughout the years. The system worked well for both butler and master.

The two passed a billboard as they approached a city in the distance.

' _Amity Park, a nice place to live!_ '

Distracted by the cocky words of the sign, Ciel failed to notice a laser of some sort shoot towards him from the direction of the town.

"Master!" Sebastian yelled in surprise. The butler leaped at his young lord, shoving him out of the way before he could be hit by the blast. When the laser hit the road where Ciel had been standing, it left behind a smoldering crater in the cement. Sebastian and Ciel both stared at the crater with growing curiosity.

"Sebastian, let's purchase a cat."


	2. First Step

**Hey, guys! Welcome to the first full-length chapter of Ghosts of the Past! Thank you to all of those who reviewed, it's very much appreciated and it got this chapter up way faster. Keep telling me what you think!**

After the near miss with the laser, the two demons decided to investigate. Sebastian was the faster runner of the two, so he picked up his Master and ran into town to see what was going on. They stopped as they ran into the dark streets, not wanting to attract any more attention. Sebastian put Ciel down and the two walked further into the city.

Out of nowhere, another blast hit a building just down the street. This time, both Sebastian and Ciel saw the direction in which it came from clearly and they set off towards it. They didn't have to look far- after only a moment of running, they came across a park. Flying high above it, there were two figures clashing. With their enhanced vision, they could both easily make out the two figures in the distance. There were two white-haired figures, but one was obviously much more powerful than the other. The stronger one suddenly threw a hard punch, pushing the other back. It then pulled out some container of some sort that captured the dazed creature in a brilliant blue light. As soon as the light disappeared, the white-haired creature was gone too.

"How fascinating!" Sebastian exclaimed with a curious expression. "Young master, I believe we just witnessed a ghost fight."

"Ghosts, hm? How interesting... I've never seen one before now, much less been indirectly attacked by one."

"This may just be the perfect place for us, Master. Ghosts are known for their ability to bring about panic and desperation in humans. Who knows how many people around here are so desperate for safety that they'd be willing to sell their own souls?" Sebastian speculated. He paused in consideration, before continuing: "Humans can be quite foolish."

"No kidding. To give away one's own soul for safety would be incredibly counterintuitive, and yet there is little doubt in my mind that someone will. We'll just have to look around and drop a few hints here and there…"

"In the meantime, my lord, I've taken the liberty of enrolling you in the local high school and finding work there myself. I have also signed the lease on an apartment for us to stay in. Shall we go there now, sir?"

"High school?" Ciel repeated with a disgusted tone.

"The more contacts we make, the easier finding a contract will be. I have taken a position as a History Professor, so sneaking information to the children about our summoning rituals won't be difficult at all. As for all the children's drama that you'll probably have to deal with… the end justifies all the shit you'll have to suffer during the means, yes?" Sebastian mused. The butler then picked up his master in his and started walking towards the apartment. "Allow me to carry you, master. The apartment is on the other side of the city, it'd be quite the trek to make when you're already this tired."

Ciel sighed in exasperation and leaned his head on Sebastian's shoulder. "Fine, then." He was silent for a few moments before raising a questioning eyebrow at his butler. "When on earth did you have time to sign a lease on an apartment, enroll me in school _and_ secure a position as a teacher when you don't even have any training?"

Sebastian smiled slyly, saying nothing.

Ciel, realizing what had happened, glared at his butler. "You orchestrated all of this," he accused. "You set up our timing and placement so that we'd witness the fight, you came here before without me knowing and set up an apartment… Hell, I bet you've already found yourself a cat, too. Why?"

"Truthfully young master, I didn't mean for us to almost be hit by that ghost blast, but I was aware that a fight may take place around this time. I came early because I'd heard rumors of the 'most haunted city in America' and I wanted to see things for myself. Then, as I was about to head out, I found the most beautiful feline I'd ever seen and I simply _had_ to have her. So, I bought the apartment for her to stay in for awhile. I thought you might find this place interesting, so I decided that I might as well try to convince you to move here." Sebastian confessed.

"You'd better have bathed it, Sebastian. My allergy may have been resolved by my immortality, but that awful cat stench hasn't improved any."

Sebastian stopped walking in surprise. "You aren't going to order me to get rid of it?"

"You've been faithfully serving me for over a century and I've never allowed cats, no matter how much you wanted one. If I couldn't do this much for my servant, then what kind of master would I be?" The young demon finished with a grin.

Sebastian didn't even take the time to respond, he just took off running at top speed towards their apartment complex. They were there in less than a minute, despite the distance. Sebastian dropped his Master hurriedly and led him up to their room. The butler pulled a small key out of his jacket pocket and was inside the room in record time. Ciel followed his thrilled butler inside and was surprised at how nicely decorated the place was. The walls were a warm cream and there were two burgundy chairs sitting opposite a television set and an already lit fireplace. In the other corner of the room there was a small kitchen, fully stocked of course.

There were two doors leading out of the main room, which Ciel assume led to two bedrooms. Sebastian stepped out of one of the two doors while Ciel was looking around.

"My lord, may I present, Lady Elizabeth."

Ciel spun around to face his butler with a surprised expression. Sebastian held to his chest a pure white cat who stared intently into Ciel's eyes, as if daring the young demon to send it away. Ciel raised an eyebrow at the cat.

"Well, it certainly has an attitude. Look at the way the damned thing is looking at me, it has no respect. Begin it's training immediately." The younger demon said, turning away to hide the nostalgic frown that the cat's name induced.

"Young Master, if the name bothers you, I don't mind changing it…"

"No," Ciel said, hardening his expression and turning back to his butler. He looked back at the white cat. "I think the name suits it perfectly. Pure, stubborn, beautiful… I can see this much already and this is the first time I've ever seen it. Name her Elizabeth, it'll suit her well."

The butler smiled and put Elizabeth down. "Shall I prepare for your retire, my lord?"

Ciel looked at his butler with a confused frown. "Isn't that one of the things that I have to do myself, now?"

Sebastian smirked. "You'll see for yourself soon enough that high school is enough to maintain your work ethic without the extra chores." With that, the butler went off to prepare Ciel's room.

* * *

A little over a week passed, and soon it was Ciel's and Sebastian's first day at Casper High. They drove together, discussing their plans for remaining in touch without causing any suspicion. They'd decided that if by chance they shared a classroom, that they would use morse code by tapping pens on the desks. If not, they would decide on a meeting place for in between classes. When they arrived, Ciel moaned in disapproval at the sight of the building.

"I hate this place and I haven't even stepped foot in the building yet."

Sebastian chuckled. "It certainly doesn't look all that promising, does it?" The two just sat in the car, taking in the scene in front of them. The front of the school bustled with students, moving in all directions. There were some obvious social groups already set into place, they could make out some athletes, brainiacs, rebels, etc. At first glance, Ciel figured that he would most likely be classified as a rebel right off the bat by his peers. He was wearing dark jeans, a loose, black tank top underneath and an open, flannel shirt over top. With his dark outfit and eyepatch, he definitely looked on the dark side.

Sebastian suddenly spoke up, "Oh, would you look at that. It appears that there's about to be a fight already and the first bell hasn't even rung yet."

Ciel looked to where Sebastian was pointing. There was a group of large, strong looking boys closing in on a smaller, red-haired boy by the side of the school where there weren't many people around. Any other student that happened to walk by didn't even give the scene a second glance. The smaller boy seemed to be trying to talk his way out of his situation, while the head barbarian, a tall brunette boy, simply laughed and grabbed him by the neck.

Ciel smirked, obviously amused, then disappeared from the vehicle. Sebastian, meanwhile, shifted in his car seat to have a better view of the show.

* * *

"What do you think, guys? Does he deserve to be let off with a warning?" Derek Maleyo smirked, grinning maliciously at Mikey. The jock's friends laughed and cheered on the bullying, obviously not about to do anything to help the red-haired nerd. Derek wound back his fist, about to hit the boy he was holding by the neck when a kid none of them had ever seen before showed up out of nowhere and grabbed him by the arm.

The blueish black haired boy holding his arm snorted in disapproval. He spoke with a heavy British accent, making him sound much older than he looked. " _Honestly_ , you're all more inhumane than _I_ am."

Derek glared at the boy. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Ciel Michaelis and I'm going to kick your brutish ass if you don't let go of him." Ciel said with a deadly calm tone, motioning at Mikey.

Derek laughed, taking in Ciel's short and skinny frame. "As if, kid. Go home to your mommy."

Ciel, still holding Derek's arm, shifted his weight and twisted, throwing Derek off balance and thereby releasing Mikey. From there, Ciel flipped the huge jock over his shoulder and landed a hard kick right to Derek's crotch. Derek doubled over in pain, which Ciel took full advantage of. He used Derek's own arm to thrust him face-first into the ground, and then Ciel stepped on his back to hold him down. Ciel pushed his knee into Derek's elbow so that if Derek moved any more than an inch in the wrong direction, his arm would snap. All of this went down in under five seconds.

Derek's friends all stumbled backward in bewilderment and in fear, and then suddenly Ciel heard a voice call out in the distance, "Gulliver's Travels, people, what is going on here?!"

Moving too fast for any human eye to see, Ciel pulled a small switchblade out of the inside pocket of his coat. He sidestepped over to Mikey and pricked the boy's arm with the tip of the blade, then moved back before Derek's arm had time to move out of position. He then placed the knife in Derek's hand. None of the humans present even saw him move.

Ciel turned to face the man who'd yelled, a bald, fat man with a goatee, and he put on a slightly bewildered expression. The man ran up and gasped at the sight of the knife in Derek's hand. Sebastian ran up behind the man, calling for Ciel in a faked panic.

Mr. Goatee turned to Sebastian. "You know that boy?"

Sebastian nodded, still looking frightened and shocked. "He's my son, I'm Sebastian Michaelis. I'm a new history teacher here."

"Oh, yes. I remember. Mr. Michaelis, did you see what just happened here?" The man asked.

"I did, Ciel pointed out to me in the parking lot that the bigger boy was threatening the red-haired boy, and that he was going to make sure everything was ok. Next thing I know, I see a knife in that boy's hand and Ciel was fighting with him… Thank God I put him in those self-defense classes!".

No one noticed, but at the word "God" Ciel rolled his eyes.

The goatee man hurried over and grabbed the knife out of Derek's hand and pulled the boy into the school. The small crowd that had gathered at the scene began to disperse now that the action was over, and they all went off to gossip about the incident. Thankfully, only five students actually witnessed the fight. Those five students all stood in place, staring at Ciel with wide, unbelieving eyes. Those five students were Derek's closest friends and Mikey.

Mikey held his hand over the small cut on his arm, looking like he was on the verge of tears. Ciel walked over to the boy and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Mikey looked up in surprise. The concerned expression Ciel wore was such a stark contrast to the warrior he'd witnessed not one minute sooner, Mikey couldn't help but let out a disbelieving chuckle.

"Why did you help me? I mean, people have helped me before, but he had a _knife_ … You could have been hurt, maybe even-"

Ciel laughed outright at that. "You honestly believe that imbecile could have _hurt_ me? Please. If there was even a sliver of a chance that he could have hurt me, I wouldn't have stepped in at all. I have a policy to not shoot when I know I'll miss."

Mikey paused for a moment. He felt as if he'd heard those words before, but he couldn't remember where. Ignoring the feeling, he just nodded. "Well, thanks for helping either way."

"Anytime," Ciel said with a smile that vaguely reminded Mikey of a cat who'd just cornered a mouse.

With that, Ciel turned to the four boys Derek had been with. "You all should really reevaluate the kind of company you keep. Having the wrong friends could really come back to bite you someday."

Ciel passes through them and walked over to Sebastian.

"You're one to talk about having the wrong friends, young master…" The butler teased under his breath as the pair walked towards the front entrance of the school.

"I suppose you're right about that…"

* * *

"Danny!" Sam called to her best friend through the hordes of students passing by. Danny looked up and saw her waving at him and started moving towards her.

"Hey! How was your weekend?" He asked.

"Hell, but with parents like mine I guess that's normal," She said, rolling her eyes. "Guess how many pink dresses the wanted me to try on?"

"Is this like one of those 'guess how many candies are in the jar' kinds of things? 'Cause if that's the case then this is a totally unfair competition. There can only be so many candies in a jar but the amounts of pink dresses you mother can find is endless."

Sam sighed, "Sad, but true."

"Guys!"

Sam and Danny turned around to see Tucker running their way.

"Hey, Tucke-" Danny was cut off as Tucker grabbed both him and Sam by their arms and started dragging them towards the school.

"Do you guys have any idea how late we are? Come on!"

"Tucker, it's only 8:15. We've got ten minutes before we have to be in class." Sam said with a bored tone. Tucker paused and looked at his PDA, which read 8:32. Then he looked at Sam's watch and Danny's cell phone and sighed in annoyance.

"Majority rules," Danny said with a smirk.

Tucker snorted but was obviously relieved that he was mistaken.

Sam rolled her eyes and chuckled, "How's about we get to class early for once? It'll be a nice change of pace."

"Sure. Let's go give Lancer the biggest shock of his life." Tucker said with a smirk.

"Maybe we should grab a defibrillator just in case we surprise him into cardiac arrest."

Just then, Danny felt a shiver run up his spine. It was a familiar shiver by now, and Danny groaned in annoyance. He felt the mist leave his mouth, and then he saw his friends tense up.

"Woah, dude, what was that? Tucker asked.

Danny raised an eyebrow at his friend. "...My ghost sense?"

"Danny, your mist was _red_ ," Sam said, staring at the Ghost Boy's mouth with a bewildered expression.

"Weird. Should I go check things out?"

"I think you should ask Clockwork or Frostbite about it first. Knowledge is power, after all." Sam replied, looking around nervously. "Besides, it doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary is around. I don't want you to worry everyone by showing up for an enemy no one can see. It's like people who are scared of spiders seeing a spider then having it disappear."

"I guess that makes sense. We'll just have to keep our eyes open…"

* * *

Danny, Sam, and Tucker showed up in English early. There were already quite a few people there already, but the trio just ignored everyone else like usual. They took their usual seats near the back and had a quick conversation about their weekends before they were interrupted.

"OH MY GOD, STAR! Guess what I just heard!" Paulina screamed as she ran into the classroom. Everyone looked her way, including the trio. When Paulina was this excited about gossip, it _had_ to be good.

Seeing how she'd caught everyone's attention, she looked confused. "None of you have heard about this? For serious?"

Everyone's expressions remained blank.

"OH MY GOD, GUYS, you will not believe it!" She squealed excitedly, now talking to the whole classroom. "Derek Maleyo just got expelled for attacking that ginger nerd Mikey with a _knife_!"

Almost all of the students ran over to Paulina to get the details.

"Ok, so Derek had a knife on Mikey when suddenly this new kid comes out of nowhere and tells Derek to back off. Apparently the guy was like super short and scrawny so Derek didn't listen, and then like three seconds later Derek was being pinned to the ground! I heard this from John Hallas cause he was there with Derek- and apparently none of them saw the knife until new kid took him down."

Danny looked to Sam and Tucker, and he could tell they were thinking the same thing as he was.

This new guy could have been the one to set off the red sense.

"Hello, class!"

All conversation ceased as a tall, black haired man walked into the room.

"Please, have a seat." The man called with a smooth British accent.

The students took a moment to sit, and when everyone's attention was on him, the man introduced himself. "Good morning, my name is Sebastian Michaelis and I'm a new teacher here, starting today. I'm a history teacher, and I have taught at many prestigious academies across Europe. I will be standing in for Mr. Lancer this morning because he has some business to deal with. Any questions?"

Paulina raised her hand, and he nodded at her.

"Ok, I have two questions. One, Have you had any face treatments recently because your skin is so perfect that I feel almost feel ashamed." A few other popular girls agreed, shamelessly staring at the new teacher's flawlessness.

Mr. Michaelis chuckled. "No, I haven't. Your second question?"

"Does Lancer's 'business' have anything to do with Derek Maleyo?"

"Sorry, miss..?"

"Paulina Sanchez."

"I apologize, Ms. Sanchez, but I'm not supposed to discuss Mr. Maleyo with students…" He paused, then added with a sly grin: "Between you and me, though, it was one hell of a fight."

With that, every student in that classroom decided that Sebastian Michaelis was one of the coolest teachers they'd ever had.

The classroom door opened, and a kid who hardly looked about 14 stepped into the classroom. His single eye widened slightly when he saw Mr, Michaelis, and vice versa.

"Oh, Mr. Michaelis. I'm sorry, am I in the wrong room?" The boy asked.

"This is English, I'm just subbing in for Mr. Lancer. He had to deal with a certain knife-wielding jock." The two shared a quick smirk, then Ciel stepped further into the room.

"This is where I'm supposed to be, then." He looked at the class with a quick calculating look before Mr. Michaelis started talking again.

"Class, this is Ciel Michaelis, my son."

Ciel waved, smiling out at the class.

The entire class gaped at him. This couldn't possibly be the kid who beat up _Derek Maleyo_. For one, he had a teacher for a parent so he was probably a nerd to some degree. Secondly, he was _really_ small and Maleyo was _really_ big. Then, on top of all that, he only had half the vision that Derek had.

There was no way.

"By your expressions, I assume you've all heard about a new kid taking down that psychotic assh-"

"Language, Ciel…" Mr. Michaelis teased.

"Oh, spare me. Anyways, I just saw Mikey needed help, so I helped him. It really wasn't that big of a deal. Anything to add, Mr. Michaelis?"

"No, you took the words right out of my mouth. Alright, is that seat in the far right corner occupied?" Mr. Michaelis asked.

The seat was right in front of Danny's. He shook his head no, as much as he wanted to lie and say that it was. Ciel gave him a really bad vibe.

Mr. Michaelis nodded to Ciel and the boy walked over to the empty seat. Danny made eye contact with him for just a second before he sat down, and they both had the exact same though at the exact same time.

" _Something is different about him…_ "


	3. The Chase

Danny

Ciel sat in front of me, and immediately I felt a chill run down my spine. He didn't even have to do anything and I felt more uncomfortable than I ever had in my whole 15 years of life.

Who the hell is this guy, anyways?

"Well, seeing as Mr. Lancer didn't provide me with a lesson plan of any kind, I suppose we can go over some basic grammatical rules… Unless, of course, someone has another idea?"

"You're from England or something right?" Star asked randomly, not even bothering to raise her hand.

"Clever one, aren't you?" Mr. Michaelis asked sarcastically.

"So, like, you must be super good at English. Why don't you teach that instead of History?"

"Well, English isn't actually my first language, you see. I originally spoke an ancient form of Latin that I assume no one here would be familiar with. I then proceeded to learn English, French, and even Japanese."

A few other students voiced their questions, and the rest of the class was basically spent learning all about the new teacher. I was still extremely suspicious of the pair; mostly because every so often Ciel seemed to be suppressing laughter at one of Mr. Michaelis' answers. Could it be because every word the teacher spoke was a complete lie?

Maybe.

I spent the rest of the class trying to take in as much information as I could without arousing any suspicion. Sam and I worked together to take note of Michaelis' answers by pretending to be talking through paper messages. Ciel didn't bother to hide the fact that he saw us passing the notes to each other, but he seemed to have assumed that we were only chatting so he ignored us.

When the bell rang and we were certain that Michaelis and Ciel were no longer in hearing distance, Sam and Tucker immediately wanted to know what was up.

"They have a weird feeling. It doesn't feel like a ghost, it just feels cold. Whatever it is, it's not good."

"Dudes, I gotta put aliens on the table. They obviously weren't human and Danny's saying they aren't ghosts, so what else could they be?" Tucker deduced. While Sam rolled her eyes at him, I actually paused to consider the idea.

"Wouldn't there have been some kind of report of them landing, though?"

Sam looked at us incredulously. "Danny, you aren't actually considering that they could be from space, are you? That's a little ridiculous."

"And ghosts aren't?" I argued. Sam raised an eyebrow, making it obvious how unconvinced she was. I sighed and elaborated: "I'm just saying, we shouldn't count anything out just yet. We have no idea what we're dealing with."

"I think we should just ditch right now and head out to the Far Frozen. Frostbite knows things; he might be able to help us out."

"Sounds good."

We left the classroom, weaving through the halls towards the front doors. We checked around every single corner for jocks and teachers, really hoping not to run into any roadblocks. Just as we rounded the last corner, we were caught.

"Ah, you three. I was hoping to run into you again," called a chipper, heavily accented voice from behind them. We had been moments away from walking out the front door.

Spinning around, we were faced with none other than the new history teacher, Mr. Michaelis. We all spoke at the same time.

"Mr. Michaelis!" Sam squeaked in surprise.

"Oh, um, hi," I mumbled.

"Shit."

Sam and I glared at Tucker.

The hallways had pretty much cleared out by now, most of the students having gone to class. Mr. Michaelis noticed this and motioned for us to follow him. "Walk with me?"

Reluctantly, we followed the man. I subtly kept one hand on each of my friends in case we needed to make a fast exit, which seemed more than likely by now. Michaelis led us to an empty classroom. The walls were clear and the desks were new, so I came to the quick conclusion that this must be Mr. Michaelis' new classroom.

"Nice classroom," I said nonchalantly.

"Thank you," he replied curtly, almost awkwardly. He closed the door behind us after we walked in, and he motioned to the empty seats everywhere. "Feel free to have a seat anywhere you like."

"Pass. What is this about?" Sam said with a pointed glare.

Michaelis sat on his new desk with a shrug. "We want to know what you are, you want to know what we are. I propose we get that out of the way so things aren't so awkward in class and such."

As surprised as I was by the bluntness of the man, I kept a straight face and said: "That sounds fair."

"Well, in that case, Ciel and I are both demons. I am one of the originals, and Ciel was made into one in the year 1891. Now you?"

Keeping the poker face despite my inner surprise and concern, I quickly responded, "Sam and Tucker are human, but I'm a ghost."

Mr. Michaelis raised a skeptical eyebrow at this. "You seem fairly alive to me."

I smirked. Not saying another word, I transformed. When faced with Danny _Phantom_ , I noticed a spark of recognition in the demon's eyes.

"You've heard of me?" I asked rhetorically.

"Obviously. I may not stop by home too often, but I always end up hearing the gossip, nonetheless." He paused for dramatic effect. "The Halfa?"

I didn't even bother to answer his question seeing as he already knew the answer.

Michaelis grinned slyly. "How interesting… Care to exchange a bit more information?"

"Same price as before."

"How did this happen?"

"Exposure to huge amounts of ecto-energy. Why are you two _actually_ here?"

"Sustenance."

"As in?"

"Well that's a whole new question, isn't it?"

"No, it's not."

"I think you already know what I meant."

"I was hoping to be wrong. I'm not letting you _eat_ my citizens."

"It's consensual. We perform services for them, they provide dinner for us. They know the full extent of any contract they form with us."

"That doesn't make it any better!"

We stopped arguing when there was a knock at the door. Thankfully, I was still holding on to Sam and Tucker, so before the intruder came barging in, we disappeared from sight.

"Mr. Michaelis? Sorry to barge in, dearie." Mrs. Scott, one of the older teachers, walked in carrying a large gift basket. "I've just brought a little something from everyone to welcome you to the school."

"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Scott, you're too kind. Here, allow me…" Michaelis quickly took the oversized gift basket. "Goodness, did you carry this all the way here all on your own?"

The two teachers continued to talk for a bit, and things became dull fast. Sam elbowed me, whispering, "I don't think we'll be getting any more information out of him. We might as well go."

"Agreed. Let's get out of here before Scott leaves."

With that, I flew us out of the classroom.

* * *

Sebastian felt the departure of the three from his classroom the second they left. He bit back a scowl and quickly sent Mrs. Scott on her way. When the old woman finally left, he sat back on his brand new desk and thought through the information he'd just uncovered.

The Halfa went to the school he and Ciel were undercover at. What were the chances?

Unfortunately, his 'sister' of sorts, whom he'd originally heard about the halfa from, hadn't given him too much information on the topic. She'd only said that, against all laws of the underworld, the boy was neither dead nor alive.

Apparently, this gave him special immunity- from death, from the loss of his soul, from demons altogether.

Hunting here could be more difficult than originally planned…

* * *

"Fenton!"

I immediately regretted my decision not to leave us invisible.

"You guys go. I'll deal with him then meet you at my place. Got it?"

The two nodded and ran off.

Dash walked up to me, looking a little more menacing than usual. I prepared for the blow I thought was mere moments away, tensing my muscles and flinching away from Dash, but that blow never came. I looked at Dash in confusion and saw him looking around nervously. When he turned back to me he rolled his eyes.

"Relax, Fenton, I'm not here to wail on you. I'm here to tell you not to talk to the new kid."

This caught my attention.

"Why not?"

He sneered down at me. "I don't owe you any answers."

"And I don't owe you any favors. Give me a reason and I might consider it."

"Fine, fine." He looked around again, probably to be sure that Ciel himself was nowhere close by. "There are rumors. They say that Ciel Michaelis somehow planted the knife on Maleyo when no one saw. Apparently he was trying to get Derek out of the way because he likes nerds or something, I dunno. I just don't want to be next… Dear God, what if Maleyo goes to jail? I can't go to jail, Fenton!" Dash said, panicking a bit.

"Relax, Dash. You aren't going to jail. I won't say anything to Ciel, I promise."

"Really?" A smile lit up Dash's face that was almost blinding. He clapped me on the back so hard that I almost fell over, saying: "Thanks, Fenton. Maybe you aren't so lame after all."

"Gee, thanks," I replied sarcastically.

Just as Dash was about to walk away, I called after him. "Hey, Dash? Who told you about Ciel planting the knife?"

Dash had to think about that one for a second. "Uhhh, Noah. Linebacker. He was there, apparently."

"Ok. See you around." With that, I pulled out my phone and texted Sam and Tucker.

 _:Hey guys, I'm following a new lead. Might be a few minutes late._

* * *

Noah Bohr was bored out of his mind.

"-ext Monday will be the unit exam on this topic so make sure yo-"

Goddamnit. Tests on Monday's should be illegal.

Noah had been drawing on my notebook absentmindedly for almost the entire class when suddenly, something truly incredible happened.

The door knocked.

"Probably Fenton. Late, as usual…" the teacher muttered.

When she opened the door, she gasped and stumbled backward, only for the teen standing in the doorway to reach out and grab her wrist. Her fall was halted instantly. He helped her back to her feet, then the teacher finally found her voice.

"Oh, um, can I help you?" She stuttered out.

"Yeah, sorry to barge in but I need to talk to Noah. Can I borrow him for a few minutes?"

Noah, who hadn't noticed the situation yet, heard his name and looked up.

Danny Phantom was standing in the doorway of the classroom. Everyone was in too much shock to move. He wasn't wearing his normal hazmat suit; instead, he was wearing a casual black tank top with his insignia in the middle and gray jeans. He almost looked like a student.

Phantom noticed me he looked relieved. He motioned me to follow him and walked back out of the room. I quickly got up to follow him, of course. I could practically feel the jealousy radiating from the other students.

Once I was outside, I closed the door behind me. Phantom was leaning against the wall on the other side of the narrow hallway, looking impatient. I hurried over, not wanting him to be annoyed with me.

"H-hi, Phantom. What's up?" I asked.

He shrugged, looking away from me. "Well, I heard that you were there when Derek Maleyo went berserk this morning. I was hoping to look into it. Any comments?"

"Derek didn't go crazy!" I snapped. I immediately regretted my tone and frantically apologized, but the ghost waved me off.

"Don't apologize, I should be the sorry one. I didn't word that very well. Anyways, why don't you think Derek didn't go crazy?"

"Well…" I looked down the hall, making sure the victim of my gossip didn't happen to be lurking nearby. "I was there. We were just teasing this kid, Mikey, when Michaelis shows up out of nowhere and grabs Derek's arm. Ten seconds later, Derek's on the ground. That was the first time any of us saw the knife or the tiny cut on Mikey's arm."

Phantom's brow furrowed. I could see the wheels turning in his head, even if he still wasn't facing me. What was that about, anyway? He didn't seem like the kind of dude that would get shy, so why wasn't he-

"Thanks, Noah. That actually helps a lot. Here…" The ghost reached into a backpack that had been sitting on the ground next to him. I hadn't noticed it before, but when I got a good look at it, it was strikingly familiar.

Even the ripped side pocket.

He pulled out a notebook while I stared at the backpack in shock. Ripping out a page, then ripping it in half, he wrote two notes.

 _Sorry to interrupt your class, Mrs. Hag_ -

"What's your teacher's name?"

"Mrs. Hagan." I pretended not to notice that he obviously knew her name. What the hell is going on, here?

- _an, I'll try not to let it happen again. Thanks for your time!_ _DP_

 _Thanks for your help, Noah! This is note is worth one free favor from yours truly, use it wisely. DP_

He handed me the two notes. "Give that one to your teacher, and that one is a coupon for a free favor, whatever you want, whenever you want. I wrote my number on the back, so you can call when you want to cash in that favor. Please don't give that number to Paulina Sanchez, my life would be ruined."

I chuckled, nodding. He saluted, and with that, he was gone.

Fenton's backpack. I'm sure of it. He knew Hagan. He wouldn't look me in the eye.

 _Could Fenton actually be..?_

* * *

Ciel skulked through the halls, not making eye contact with anyone. He wanted to find Sebastian as soon as possible so they could get out of this hellhole.

"Young Master…"

His enhanced hearing helped him pick up the whisper from in a nearby closet. He scowled at the poor choice of meeting spot but walked in nonetheless.

The first thing he noticed was that his butler looked absolutely giddy. Then he noticed the stench of a cat.

I rolled my eyes. "Where is the damned creature, Sebastian?"

Sebastian pouted, somewhat, before pulling the cat out of a random box.

"I can't deal with that right now," I said with a grumpy sigh. "Just tell me what you found out when you confronted them."

"Well, it seemed as though they were about to run off when I found them, possibly to research us. They were more than happy to exchange information. I told them we were demons, then _he_ told me that he's the _Halfa_."

"...You're joking."

"I'm not."

"And the other two?"

"Humans."

"Anything else?"

"He disapproves our hunting in his town-"

"Obviously."

"-and Ghosts can be very violent in defending their haunts…"

This made Ciel pause. He didn't know the full extent of the Halfa's abilities. He didn't know anything about the kid himself that might give him any clues about moves he could make. Hell, he couldn't even remember the kid's name. He was a wild card.

Ciel grinned at the challenge. "Sounds like fun."


End file.
